Improvement in horse-detachers



A. B. ROBERTS.

HORSE DETACHER.

No. 188,956, Patented March 27,1877.

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UNITED STATES ALMON B. ROBERTS,

PA ENT QFFIGE.

OF BROOKS, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE'DETACHERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 1 88,956. dated March 27, 1877; application filed February 20, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALMoN B. ROBERTS, of Brooks, in the county of Waldo and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Safety Apparatus, or mechanism for detaching a horse from a carriage; and do hereby declare the same to be described in the fol-- lowing specification, and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top view, Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a transverse section, of a Whiffletree and its support-bar provided with my invention.

My invention consists in a rotary trace holder and detacher, constructed and combined with the Whiffletree in manner and to operate substantially as explained; also, in the combination of a holding-spring with the whiffletree, its support-bar, and the rotary de tacher provided with a chain fixed to its bow, as set forth. The whole is to enable a horse, in case of being restless or disposed to run away, or while running away with a carriage, to be readily detached therefrom.

In such drawings, A denotes the whiffietree, and B the thill cross-pin, upon which the whiffletree is arranged, and to which it is pivoted.

There is arranged alongside of the whiffletree the trace holder and detacher G, which is a rod bowed or bent at its middle, in man ner as represented at a, and curved or hooked in a quadrant at each of its ends, as shown at b b. This detacher is supported in bearings c c c c, fixed to the side of the whiffietree. It is to be capable of freely revolving in such bearings.

A curved spring, D, fixed to the thill-bar B, projects over the how a, and serves to keep the said bow down upon the whiffletree. A chain, E, provided with two branches, at d, is fastened to the how, such chain being led up ward, and fixed to the dasher or front of the carriage.

If we suppose the traces of the harness of a horse to be hitched on the quadrantal hooks of the detacher, when such hooks are turned back the animal will be harnessed to the carriage. In order to set him free, the chain is to be pulled on so as to raise the bow out of action with its holding-spring, and revolve the detacher about ninety degrees. The draft of the traces on the books will still further revolve the detacher sufficiently for the traces to slide oi the hooks, and thus set the horse free from the carriage.

The arched part a of the rotary deflector, bent upward and laterally, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to project from the straight parts in a direction opposite to that in which the prongs b I) extend therefrom, will, when resting on the top of the whiffietree, support the prongs or hooks in proper positions for bolding the traces when there is a draft on them. The spring D, acting in connection with the part 01., prevents the detacher from being accidentally revolved by a rearward movement of the traces.

I claim 1. As combined with the whiffietree A, the rotary detacher O, constructed as describedviz., with its central projection a, formed or arranged to rest and bear on the top of the whiffietree, while the traces are drawing upon the quadrilateral hooks b b.

2. In combination with the cross-bar B, the whiffletree A and the rotary detacher 0, constructed and applied as described, the holding-spring D, fixed to the cross-bar, and arranged with the bow on in manner and to operate therewith esseutially as set forth.

ALMON B. ROBERTS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. ROBERTS, NATHANIEL EvANs. 

